Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.

A Strange Business

Chapter Eight: Class Reunion

Hot Spot had never seen anyone so big. He had seen bulky people like Cyborg and Red Star before, but even they were nothing compared to the blue alien stood before him. He dared not glance over at Robin, for fear that the First Citadelian might take advantage and attack. Desperately trying to keep his breathing calm and level, Hot Spot began to power up, small balls of fire beginning to glow in his hands.

Robin felt the heat coming from Hot Spot, and resisted the urge to wipe the sweat from his brow that was more a result of the incredible anxiousness that was now gripping him. Starfire had only briefly mentioned the First Citadelian to him before, and had been too horrified at the thought to continue.

This did not bode well for their chances. Robin's eye twitched. His hands were getting clammy beneath his gloves. He silently thanked Bruce for giving him gloves, grateful that the staff he held in his hands wouldn't slip out at an inopportune moment. There wasn't anything around that the huge alien could use as a weapon. The Citadel's fortress was situated in the middle of a dry, rocky desert, with large outcroppings of rock peppering its surface. Robin kept his eyes on the towering alien in front of him.

The First Citadelian considered the two teenage heroes stood before him. The pale skinned girl had been easily dispatched, her guard down after being flung away from the crashing ship. The one wearing the mask had the poise of a warrior, but looked weak. The First Citadelian knew from reports, however, that this 'Robin' should never be underestimated simply because he was human. He had no idea who the glowing one was, only that he had the power of heat at his disposal.

The First Citadelian waited.

Hot Spot clenched his jaw.

Robin went first.

The Boy Wonder leapt forward with a cry, holding his staff above his head and bringing it down on his opponent's head. The blue alien grabbed his staff with his right hand and, with an effortless flick of his wrist, tossed Robin far away over the crashed ship.

Thrusting his hands forward, Hot Spot let loose a blast of white hot flames. The First Citadelian raised his left forearm, using it to block the blast. With his body shielded from the heat, he made his way forward, bringing his right fist back. Hot Spot's eyes widened as the blue alien made his way over and swung his fist down at him.

Stopping his barrage of flames and using honed acrobatic skills, Hot Spot leapt up, avoiding the blow. He grabbed onto the alien's shoulder and flipped over onto the other side, landing deftly on his feet. The First Citadelian quickly swung his left arm around and caught Hot Spot in the chest as he landed, sending him flying away and skidding across the ground into large outcropping of rock. His head hit the rock with a resounding thud, knocking him unconscious, and his glowing form faded.

Smirking, the large blue alien made his way over to the unconscious Hot Spot, his intention clear. He suddenly came to a halt, and his smirk vanished. Looking down, he saw red energy clamped around his ankle, and followed the source of the energy to the struggling Argent, who was lying on her front. The bruise on her forehead, coupled with her pained grunts, told the Citadelian that she was barely holding onto consciousness, let alone him.

His smirk quickly returning, he swiped down at the red energy, causing it to disappear with a flash. Argent yelled in pain, and was quickly out once again. Not wanting to be distracted again, he made his way over Argent, raising both fists above his head, ready to deliver a crushing blow.

"Hey! Ugly!"

The blue alien looked up in time to see Val-Yor's fist collide with his face, causing him to stumble back. Another left hook pushed the Citadelian further back, and away from Argent. Having recovered from the initial shock of the attack, the towering alien grabbed Val-Yor's next blow in an iron grip.

"No-one has made me stumble before. It will not happen again."

Quickly turning, the Citadelian slammed Val-Yor into the ground face down, creating a huge indentation in its dry, rocky surface. He turned again, and repeated the process, this time slamming him onto his back. Smirking, he tossed the intergalactic hero like a human tossing a pebble across water, sending the hero bouncing along the ground until he skidded to a halt.

Red Star gently set down Starfire behind the space ship, and turned to the battle at hand.

Val-Yor struggled up from the ground with a moan of pain, just managing to get up on all fours. The Citadelian leapt up into the air, his trajectory sending him down to land on Val-Yor. A green blur slammed into him before he could reach the hero, pushing him at great speeds into a mesa of rock.

Cracks spread across the huge rock from the impact, sending a cloud of dust in all directions. The Citadelian looked down through the cloud to see Red Star pinning him to the rock, delivering blow after blow to his gut. Gritting his teeth from the pain of the vicious attack, the blue alien brought his hands out and slammed them onto either side of Red Star's head.

The Russian hero quickly halted his assault, yelling in pain as his attack faltered. The Citadelian knotted his hands together and slammed them down on Red Star's head, crushing him into the ground. Grabbing him by the material of his coat, the blue alien lifted him up, Red Star still struggling in his grasp. The Citadelian slammed his fist into the Russian hero, sending him flying back in a straight line and into Val-Yor, who had only just gotten to his feet.

The two skidded to a halt and gradually got to their feet. Looking up, they saw the Citadelian approaching, taking his time as he made his way over to them.

"He's pretty tough," Val-Yor admitted, his breathing heavy.

"I take it our chances are low," Red Star said simply.

"Very."

Red Star was silent for a moment. "Then let us not keep him waiting."

Val-Yor smirked, and they rushed forward.

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Robin struggled back to the ship, having managed to turn his brief flight into a falling roll. Painful, but effective. His left arm had been completely wrecked by the landing, however, now covered in stinging cuts and bruises while his wrist was twisted at an angle that could only be described as 'nasty'.

His eyes widened beneath his mask as he reached the ship. There, lying on the ground, slowly getting up…

"Starfire!"

The Tamaranian looked over at him groggily, her smile still evident. "Robin?"

His injuries quickly forgotten, the Boy Wonder ran as fast as he could to the orange skinned teen, the grin on his face so big he thought his face might break. As he reached her, he threw his arms around her, eliciting a surprised 'eep' from the Tamaranian.

"I thought you were-! I mean, I felt you were-! You're all right!" he said, his words barely registering in his mind. He brought his head back to look her in the eyes. "What happened? I-"

He stopped as he saw the bruises and burns that littered her skin. His expression darkened. "What happened to you?"

His teeth were now pushed together so tightly, they could have shattered. "Did he do this to you?" he said, nodding over at the other side of the ship, where the sounds of battle could be heard.

Starfire's head lolled around as though she couldn't hold up the weight of her head. "I… Blackfire was… I…"

Robin eased her down to the ground. "Just rest. I'll get us out of here," he said soothingly, and Starfire nodded placidly, her eyes closing as she rested back.

Before quickly checking that Starfire was in fact breathing, he made his way around the ship, no longer caring about his injuries. He didn't even notice that Starfire's wounds were healing and fading away as he left.

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Hot Spot hauled himself to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. He groaned and looked up in a mild surprise when he heard Robin's battle cry from across the rocky plain that had become their battlefield.

Val-Yor was pulling himself out of a particularly large crater in the ground as Red Star had his arms firmly around the First Citadelian's neck, while Robin threw all manner of weaponry at his blue, scaly hide.

A moan from the ship drew Hot Spot's attention, and the Moroccan hero looked over in time to see Gnaww stumbling from the open doorway.

"Oooh… where the hell-?"

His eyes bulged as he saw the battle going on before him. Using the better part of valour, he tip-toed backwards towards the ship. Hot Spot powered up and blasted his way over to the rat like alien. Before Gnaww could even move, Hot Spot had grabbed his jacket.

"Where're you going, buddy?"

"I was just… going to fix the ship! Yeah!" he suggested, laughing nervously.

Hot Spot cocked an eyebrow. "Is that right? You wouldn't be planning on leaving without us, would you?"

"No, I uh-"

They were interrupted by Red Star landing abruptly next to them, his jacket smoking slightly. He turned to them, and nodded a greeting before shooting back into battle. Hot Spot turned his attention back to Gnaww, poking him in the chest with his finger.

"Listen up, rat face. You go and fix this ship as fast as you can, but if you try to pull anything, I promise you will live to regret it. You got me?"

Gnaww nodded quickly. "Oh yeah. Got it got it got it."

"Good. Go."

Gnaww turned and ran into the ship, and Hot Spot turned to the battle, preparing himself to leap in. Robin landed on his feet next to him, skidding back slightly. Hot Spot's attention was immediately drawn to Robin's twisted wrist.

"Are you okay?"

"It's fine," he grunted, pulling out several freeze discs from his belt, one between each finger.

"Uh… right. Gnaww's fixing the ship," Hot Spot said, pointing back to the ship with his thumb.

"Good. Because we're not going to beat this guy easily."

Hot Spot sighed. "Guess we should get to it then, huh?"

Robin nodded and charged forward. Hot Spot ran next to him, firing a white hot blast of fire at the ground beneath the Citadelian's feet, causing it to melt away as though it were nothing. The blue alien sank down to his waist in the molten rock. Robin threw his freeze discs at the liquid ground that surrounded the alien's legs, solidifying it instantly.

Val-Yor smirked and cracked his knuckles, charging forward and delivering a vicious series of blows to the First Citadelian's head, his body held in place by the solidified molten rock below him. Red Star quickly got on board with Val-Yor's strategy, delivering blow after blow to the towering blue alien.

Roaring in frustration, the Citadelian grabbed Red Star and brought him over his head and on top of Val-Yor, slamming them both into the ground. The rocky surface was torn up by the impact, freeing the blue alien's leg. Smirking in an almost feral way, he slammed his fists down and freed his other leg, going into a flying leap towards Hot Spot and Robin. The two dodged out of the way as the large blue alien landed.

The ground spiked up at the impact of the Citadelian's landing, tossing them both up in the air. The blue alien turned and leapt into the air after them.

With his wrist twisted like it was, Robin struggled to move in the air as the alien approached him. The Citadelian swatted him down, slamming him painfully into the ground. Hot Spot could only look on as he twisted in mid air, trying to land on his feet. Robin groaned in semi-consciousness on the ground, not even noticing the long shadow cast by his enemy.

"You are not so strong. I do not understand why the Gordanians had such trouble with you on Earth."

"I had good friends," Robin spat through gritted teeth. He reached into his belt and pulled out his grappling hook, firing at the alien's arm. It embedded itself in his skin, causing him to yell out in pain. Using the moment of distraction, Robin wrapped the cable around his arm and slid between the Citadelian's legs, running as fast as he could as he got to his feet.

The blue alien's arm was pulled down and through the gap between his legs, almost flipping him head over heels onto his back. Hot Spot, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, fired as much heat as he could at the Citadelian's exposed rear end, blasting him forward as Robin released his grip on the cable. The blue alien skidded face down along the ground before coming to a halt.

He pushed himself to his feet and turned to face them, the roar that emerged from him making the ground shake.

"You… DARE?"

Hot Spot smirked, though he had no idea where this courage was coming from. "I dunno, buddy. Your butt seems kinda happy about it."

Turning around to look at the mentioned piece of anatomy, The Citadelian saw that Hot Spot had burnt the outline of a happy face with his blast.

Robin tried to hold back his smile, and the Citadelian's roar exceeded anything that had come before. Slamming his fist into the ground, he sent a shockwave of dust and grit towards the Moroccan hero, dousing his heated form and tossing him into the ship behind him headfirst.

The alien leapt forward feet first, landing with an echoing crack on Hot Spot. He screamed in pain as the Citadelian smirked.

"You do not mock me."

Suddenly, two pairs of arms grabbed his, pulling him back and pinning him to the ground. He grit his teeth as he saw Val-Yor and Red Star, recovered from the alien's earlier attack. With a jerk of his arm, he tossed Val-Yor away, and grabbed onto Red Star with both arms, standing and holding him in a bear hug.

Robin leapt forward and tried his utmost to distract him, throwing every weapon he had left at the towering alien's blue hide. After using up his weapons, he resorted to using his fists and feet. He yelled in pain as he broke his hand on the alien's skin.

Ignorant of the Boy Wonder's attack, the Citadelian just smirked, and squeezed. Red Star screamed as his entire body was compressed together, and the blue alien released him, letting him collapse to the ground.

Finally noticing Robin, the Citadelian turned and delivered an uppercut to the already struggling Robin's chin, hurling him back across the desert floor.

A silver blur slammed into him at a downward angle, slamming him into the ground. Val-Yor floated above the cloud of dust that came from the sudden impact, his usual shining appearance tarnished with dark green blood and bruises, wincing as he realised he had broken a few ribs at some point during the battle. He wasn't accustomed to becoming this injured in battle.

The Citadelian leapt forth from the cloud and grabbed Val-Yor, bringing him back down to the ground with him. Pinning him to the floor, he began slamming his fists as hard as he could into the intergalactic hero, intent on breaking every bone in his body. Val-Yor attempted to fight back, but even his considerable strength couldn't match the blue alien's enraged attack.

Robin could only watch as Val-Yor was beaten to a bloody pulp. He pushed himself up with his one good arm, gradually bringing his knee up so that his foot could touch the ground. Slowly and painfully, he pulled up the other knee, and made the long journey to standing upright.

Ignoring the intense pain in his arm and hand, he pushed himself up as quickly as he could, almost bouncing up. He stumbled slightly, feeling as though his neck would fall off at any time.

The pounding noise coming from the Citadelian's punches stopped. Robin heard the thudding of the alien's footsteps as he trudged over. Robin drearily looked up as he was engulfed in the shadow of the First Citadelian.

"Look at you. You can barely stand," he said derisively.

"I… won't quit," Robin breathed, his eyes blurring in and out of focus.

The blue alien sneered and crouched, jabbing a fist into Robin's gut. The Boy Wonder fell to his knees, coughing blood. The towering alien grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up, pulling a small knife from somewhere on his body.

"You are weak. You are nothing." He leaned closer to his ear, so much so that Robin could feel his sickly, warm breath on his face. "And she… she is mine."

Robin clenched his jaw, anger boiling in his blood. He tried to move, to even clench a fist, but that would have taken more energy than he could muster.

The Citadelian brought back the knife, preparing to bring it around in a swipe that would decapitate the young hero. A bright blast of green energy flared at his back, and he roared in pain, dropping Robin ungraciously to the ground. He turned to see the nearly recovered Starfire floating before him, eyes and hand aglow with green energy.

"Do. Not. Touch him."

He smirked. "I don't know how you managed to shake off the effects of the drug, but it doesn't matter."

"My people can withstand hostile conditions," she said, glancing over at the beaten form of Val-Yor. "…because we heal quickly. You will leave my friends alone."

"If you would just come and be my slave once again, I would."

"No. You would not."

Starfire sped forward, slamming into the blue alien at an upward angle, taking him up into the air with her. He tried to swipe at her with his arm. Using her lithe form, Starfire easily dodged above the blow, grabbing onto his arm and tossing him down to the ground in one smooth motion. He crashed into the ground with a loud bang, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Starfire, not taking a moment to rest, began firing starbolt after starbolt into the cloud, all the while firing her eyebeams continuously.

Robin looked at her in amazement. He rarely saw her being so vicious, but to see it now… it gave him a glimmer of hope. His hopeful demeanour fell as he saw the Citadelian, seemingly unaffected by the starbolts, leaping out of the cloud and towards her. Grabbing her ankles with his large hand, he brought her back down to the ground, slamming her into the rocky surface as he had done to Val-Yor. He lifted his leg and slammed it down onto the Tamaranian, slamming it down again and again until there was no resistance from her.

There was a deadening silence as he stepped back from the crater, and Robin felt despair grip him. He wanted to shout her name, to get up and run over there, to protect her from that monster. But he couldn't even move.

"You see?" the blue alien gloated. "You cannot hope to match me."

"That was not my plan," Starfire said, and Robin smiled in pure joy. He felt a gust of strong wind as Red Star flew over him, flying towards the Citadelian with such force Robin could have sworn he heard a boom when the Russian hero collided with the alien.

Red Star shot vertically up into the sky with his opponent, taking him further and further away, until Robin could barely see him. A blinding burst of red light followed, and Robin turned his head away to shield himself from the throbbing light.

Robin heard a low humming noise coming from Gnaww's crashed ship, and turned to see the ship coming to life before him. He felt Starfire's arm gently but swiftly pick him up and take him towards the ship, and he watched the now barely conscious Argent making her way to the ship also, carrying Hot Spot on a gurney of red energy. Starfire settled Robin down in the ship, and turned to go back outside.

"Starfire… where…?"

"Val-Yor is still out there."

Before Robin could protest further, Starfire was out of the doorway and flying towards Val-Yor. The Boy Wonder felt the ship rumble beneath him, and turned to see Gnaww taking the ship up.

"We can't go yet… Starfire-"

"-is gonna have to look after herself. I don't care about her, and you guys aren't in any condition to stop me."

Robin clenched his jaw, and smiled as he saw Argent making her way over to the rat-like creature, using her red energy to tie his hands together.

"You move," she said, taking a breath in-between, "and I'll chop 'em off."

Gnaww seemed to agree with this.

Starfire hovered on board, laying Val-Yor to the ground as gently as she had Robin. She nodded at Argent, who turned to Gnaww.

"Go!"

Robin looked up at Starfire as the door closed, and the ship lurched into action, flying up into the atmosphere. The low hum of the ships engines was almost soothing after the previous chaos, even dulling the pain from his injuries.

"What about… Red Star?"

"He said he will meet us in orbit."

Robin nodded. "Are you all right?"

"I will be fine. Tamaranians heal quickly."

He smiled. "I'm… glad you're okay. For a minute I thought you were…" he looked away. "I felt that you were…"

She cocked her head to the side. "You felt it?"

"I just… felt it in my… bones, I guess."

Starfire's eyes lit up, but Robin couldn't begin to guess why. She wrapped him up in a patented Starfire hug, and Robin had never felt more grateful to have his ribs crushed.

"I am also glad you were not hurt," she said softly over his shoulder.

Argent looked over at the pair from where she stood behind Gnaww, her expression unreadable.

"We're out of the planet's atmosphere," Gnaww said, the relief in his voice palpable.

Robin and Starfire disengaged from one another, and the Titan leader looked over at him. "Stop here; we need to pick up Red Star."

"What? Are you crazy? I-" He glanced over at Argent. "-I'm going to stop the ship now!" he said, not once changing his tone of voice.

Robin smiled and nodded at Argent. "Argent; help Red Star get inside. He must be pretty tired after using that much energy."

The pale British Titan walked over to the inner airlock door and opened it, stepping into it. Just as she was about to encase her self in red energy to protect herself from the coming vacuum, Red Star came hurtling through the outer airlock door, slamming Argent through the open doorway and into the wall, knocking her unconscious.

Starfire, Robin and Gnaww looked around to see the charred and blackened form of the First Citadelian clambering through the airlock, apparently oblivious to the air rushing out through the open doorway.

The Boy Wonder quickly grabbed Hot Spot to prevent him being sucked out, as Starfire did for Val-Yor. She tossed him into another room, and quickly did the same for the others before the Citadelian grabbed her and slammed her into the deck plating.

Robin, using every last bit of strength he had, leapt forward and kicked him in the back of the head, almost being sucked out into space himself. Managing to latch on to the airlock doorway, Robin once again mentally thanked Batman for giving him gloves with grips. Pulling himself up with his one arm, he managed to yank himself out of the doorway, putting his back to the wall.

The room was running out of air, and he and Gnaww seemed to be the only ones affected by it. Reaching into his belt, he gnashed his teeth as he realised he had used everything. His eyes widened beneath his mask as he realised something; the electrical shock security system he had put in place on the belt.

Starfire, meanwhile, was ducking and sidestepping the Citadelian's enraged blows, although her strength was quickly faltering. She ducked another blow to the head, and let loose with her eye beams and a barrage if starbolts. The towering blue alien just growled and stumbled back.

He stepped forward, his fist drawn back, only to find that Robin had latched his belt around his wrist, using the electrical security system to send volts of thrashing electricity through his arm. Although it was only a distraction for the Citadelian, it was enough for Starfire to take advantage of. Kicking off from the wall, she shot towards the blue alien, slamming into him as hard as she could, sending him out through the airlock as Robin leapt away from him.

Quickly reaching out, the Citadelian grabbed onto Starfire's ankle, yanking her through the doorway with her. Robin grabbed on to her hand, being pulled along the chain until he reached the airlock, putting both legs on either side of the doorway, and pulling with all the strength he could muster with his one arm.

Feeling his grip slipping, Robin grit his teeth and used his other arm to grab on to Starfire's hand, his scream almost inaudible in the vacuum of space. White dots danced around his vision as his body called out for oxygen.

Starfire looked down at the First Citadelian, hate burning in her eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

"You are my slave! You are nothing! You are-"

He was interrupted by a starbolt to the mouth, knocking him back and away into space, his trajectory taking him into a slow and painful re-entry through the atmosphere of his planet. Starfire pulled herself up through the airlock, managing to yank Robin away from the open doorway.

She pushed a button on the control panel next to the airlock, causing the inner door to close. The hiss of oxygen coming through the vents filled the room, and Robin and Gnaww gasped for air.

Starfire crouched, looking down at the gasping Boy Wonder.

"Perhaps we can now go home?"

Robin smiled. "I… think… we can… arrange that. Gnaww?"

The rat-creature groaned. "Ah, for the love of… gimme a minute… I almost died…"

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The First Citadelian sat down in his throne, having been swiftly rescued by one of his ships. One of his personal aides entered.

"Sir, should we not go after the Tamaranian?"

He shook his head. "She is too much trouble, especially with those friends of hers. There are too many anomalous creatures on that planet Earth to pursue, and she will not fall for the same trick twice. Besides, we have more pressing matters to attend to, isn't that right?"

"Yes, sir. The Gordanians are requesting assistance against the Thanagarians; they are becoming more troublesome as the days go by, apparently."

He waved a dismissive hand. "Very well. Give them all the assistance they need."

"Very good, sir."

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Starfire looked over at the shining hero sceptically. "Blackfire?" she said, temporarily pausing her bandaging of Robin's wounds.

Red Star leaned forward in his chair. "Why did you not tell me of this?"

"It wasn't important at the time," Val-Yor said, shrugging. He was stood next to Gnaww, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Hot Spot was sat on the floor at the far end of the bridge, his back to the wall. Argent came in and sat down next to him.

"You feelin' all right?"

He smiled, rubbing his chest. "Few cracked ribs never hurt anyone." He winced and hissed through his teeth as he touched a sore spot. "Though it seems I'm the first…"

Argent laughed quietly, and looked over at the three Titans who were bickering with Val-Yor.

"What's up with them?" Hot Spot asked, nodding in their direction.

"Something about Starfire's sister."

"She has a sister?"

She shrugged. "Apparently."

"Who's the silver guy?"

"No idea. But they don't seem to like him, do they?"

Hot Spot sighed. "Y'know what?"

"What?"

"I'm finding it so hard to care about anything else but getting home right now. How about you?"

She grinned. "Pretty much the same." She looked over at Robin and Starfire, who had begun privately talking to each other.

"They're pretty serious about each other, aren't they?"

"They always seem it, yeah." Hot Spot tilted his head forward to look at her expression. "You okay?"

She turned back to him and smiled. "Fine."

"Good. Now be a good girl and go get me some lemonade."

She playfully hit him in the arm, and the two laughed.

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As she floated through the vast emptiness of space, Blackfire wondered where she would go next. She certainly didn't want to go to Tamaran or Earth; mostly because of the questions Starfire would ask her. Blackfire groaned at the thought.

She'd probably think I actually liked her or something.

She didn't much feel like stealing anything or doing anything illegal right now. Maybe she would go and have a luxurious vacation somewhere. She smiled to herself.

I think I deserve it.

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(A/N: Well… that was an interesting one to write. I think this beats out my 'Connections' story for the sheer amount of fighting. I'm hoping it wasn't too boring or hard to follow; I've tried to make the action as simplistic and fast as possible. I just watched the Ultimate Avengers movie, too, so I may have been influenced by the Hulk fight.

Next chapter: The Titans return home, making for one crowded Tower. Meanwhile, Robin makes a decision regarding the team…

Reviews Yum.)